Ghanaian journalist abducted and beaten over critical story on opposition politician

Ghanaian authorities should thoroughly investigate and bring to justice all those responsible for an attack on Jerry Azanduna, a reporter with the government-funded Ghana News Agency (GNA), and ensure his belongings are returned, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Azanduna said that on August 27, a group of men tricked him into getting in a car by saying they would drive him to a press conference he had been told to attend. The men instead drove the journalist to the house of Hassan Ayariga, an opposition Ghanaian politician with the All People's…Read more

In India, party activists beat TV journalists during live broadcast of show

A group of people suspected of being supporters of the far-right Shiv Sena political party attacked several journalists including the producer, Rahul Zori, during a live broadcast of a show for the privately owned broadcaster TV9 Marathi. The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Maharashtra police to thoroughly investigate the attack and take action against those responsible. Zori told CPJ that on August 25, a group of activists he believes are affiliated with Shiv Sena beat him and several other journalists during the filming of "Maharashtrachya Manat Kay" (What is in the…Read more

Ugandan security forces attack and detain journalists covering protests

Security forces beat and detained at least four journalists covering protests in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, on August 20, and confiscated or damaged their equipment. CPJ today condemned the attacks and called on Ugandan authorities to hold those responsible to account. The journalists were arrested while covering protests in Kampala to demand the release of lawmakers, including opposition MP Robert Kyagulanyi, known as Bobi Wine, who were arrested last week in connection to unrest in the northern town of Arua on August 13, during which President Yoweri Museveni's convoy was stoned, according to…Read more

Tanzania police detain journalist overnight on allegations of unlawful assembly

Police in Tanzania should drop allegations of illegal assembly against Sitta Tumma, a journalist who was arrested on August 8 and detained overnight, and investigate allegations that he was assaulted by security personnel, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Tumma, a print reporter and regional bureau chief for the privately owned Tanzania Daima newspaper, told CPJ that on August 8 he was arrested while covering an opposition campaign rally in Tarime District, northern Tanzania, ahead of a local authority by-election, even though he repeatedly identified himself as a journalist. He said he…Read more

Ugandan security personnel arrest, assault journalists covering electoral unrest

Authorities in Uganda should immediately drop charges of incitement and malicious damage to property against two journalists and investigate allegations that security personnel on August 13 and August 14 assaulted members of the press reporting on political unrest in northern Uganda's Arua District, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Herbert Zziwa and Ronald Muwanga, journalists with the privately owned NTV Uganda, were on the night of August 13 assaulted by security personnel and arrested during their live coverage of unrest in Arua District, according to a report by the press rights group…Read more

Nigerian media lobby groups call for immediate release of journalist Samuel Ogundipe

This statement was originally published on mediarightsagenda.net on 15 August 2018. Media Rights Agenda (MRA) today called for the immediate and unconditional release of Mr. Samuel Ogundipe, a Premium Times newspaper reporter who was arrested yesterday and is being detained by the Nigerian Police at the Force headquarters in Abuja for refusing to disclose the source of his information for a news report. In a statement issued today by its Programme Director, Mr. Ayode Longe, MRA said: "We are dismayed by this increasing resort by the Buhari Administration to tactics of intimidation and…Read more

Pakistan Press Foundation launches mechanism to report election-related violence

The Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) today launched a reporting and monitoring mechanism for election related violence directed against media personnel and institutions. The reporting mechanism will facilitate journalists and other media personnel to report violence directed against them in the month leading up to the General Elections on July 25, to elect members of the national and provincial assemblies. The monitoring system is being established to ensure that election related attacks against media personnel and institutions do not go unnoticed, as well as to monitor the response of the state machinery to such…Read more

President Museveni of Uganda hurls insults at the media

This statement was originally published on cpj.org on 18 June 2018. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni should stop making statements that denigrate and threaten the press, and ensure that his government does not take actions that conflate journalism with terrorism or national security threats, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 11, while attending the funeral of ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) legislator Ibrahim Abiriga, Museveni and NRM Secretary General Justine Kasule Lumumba publicly called for the need to censor radio and social media, according to a report by NTV Uganda. Abiriga…Read more

Bangladeshi ‘secularist’ blogger-publisher Shahzahan Bachchu shot dead

Unknown assailants shot dead writer, blogger and publisher Shahjahan Bachchu in Munshiganj district in central Bangladesh on June 11, 2018. In addition to running his own publishing house Bishakha Prokashoni, Shahjahan Bachchu, 55, was acting editor of the weekly Amader Bikrampur. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the cold-blooded murder of the writer-publisher and demands urgent action to arrest and punish the attackers. The IFJ also urges the Bangladeshi authorities to ensure safety for publishers, journalists and bloggers who face horrifying consequences of expressing their views online. Shahjahan Bachchu, a blogger known…Read more

Death of Renowned Commonwealth Journalist

It is with great sadness that we learnt today of the death of Derek Ingram.  Derek - who had been unwell for the past few months - died peacefully at home on 17 June 2018, just three days short of his 92 birthday. Throughout the Commonwealth Derek has been a familiar and much loved figure for decades.  An outstanding journalist with a distinguished career in the UK newspaper industry before he embraced  the Commonwealth, he was deeply committed to press freedom and encouraging and mentoring young journalists.  He was also well known for his…Read more